Norman Music Festival

Rock this town.

Eight years ago, spring in downtown Norman hummed with activity as the Sooner student body at the University of Oklahoma prepped for finals and looked ahead to summer break far from the Norman campus. Then came the first Norman Music Festival, and the college town whistled more than just Pomp and Circumstance. Setting up on downtown’s main drags, the festival has brought headlining rock acts such as Portugal. The Man, Joy Formidable, Of Montreal and Dirty Projectors to town along with great Oklahoma-grown artists Samantha Crain, J.D. McPherson and Leon Russell to the stages. This year, the festival’s seventh, welcomes psychedelic rockers from Austin, Texas, the Bright Light Social Hour (pictured), as well as blues-roots act Moreland and Arbuckle from Wichita, Kan. Look for them along with many others on the three stages from Thursday, April 24, to Saturday, April 26, in downtown Norman. The fact that all this entertainment was and remains free is especially endearing to all those broke, hard-working students. For more, visit www.normanmusicfestival.com or find it on Facebook.